For my video I am not going to be using any props for the scenes when I am lip syncing which is going to be most of it although I am going to use some in the scenes when I am creating a cardboard castle for a sort of narrative piece in between so for this i am going to need:
Scissors
Cardboard
String
Sellotape
Foil
The reason I have chosen to use such simple stuff is because I feel that this makes it seem like the most realistic and common things that will be used in real life and as I want my video to be relate able and easy for people to have feeling of similar emotion being shown and represented, even through the props. Another reason however is due to the ease of how common all of these materials are and if I wanted anything extravagant I may end up paying a fair amount of
Equipment
When filming my video, as I am going to be doing a lot of stationary lip syncing shots so I am going to need a bit of equipment to make sure that the quality of the shots are good and if I do any moving shots that they are good quality as well. What I think I will need is:
My video does not require a large group of people so therefore I am able to film my video with just me and my friend Ryan who i am working with whose job will be to film while I act. The reason I have chosen to use just 1 actor and the reason I have chosen myself to be the actor is because I feel that I will no longer have to rely on other people and will be able to film when I want to film and will be able to film what I want to film, how I want to film it. I also think that due to the song I have chosen, it would be easier for me to lip sync it as it may take a while for somebody who does not know the song to learn the lyrics as opposed to me who already knows the song and the lyrics so will be able to do it quicker and more easily with the hopes of me messing up less.
I have chosen Ryan to be camera man for this as he does not know the song as well as me and obviously as he is on my group. I feel he has good camera skills and will be able to help provide good information as to what would look good for a shot and potentially help make sure that the shots are filmed in good location and the lighting and mood is correct. Also I feel he is reliable for when I need him to be so I will be able to film quickly and get it all done very fast which means if I have to go out and re-film then I will have time and it also gives me more time to edit.
There are quite a few locations that I would like to film in for my video and I feel that they will all suit the mood of the video very well as they all have some sort of link towards the song and therefore help strengthen the message that I am trying to put across.
Location 1 -
The first location I have chosen to shoot in is my own house and the reason for this is because this is where I plan on shooting all of the scenes that involve the creation of the castle. I feel like this would be the best place for it as I can control the lighting to have it look however I want and I can film whenever I want as the location is at my own house.
Location 2 - (Archway)
I have chosen to use the archway because I feel that the backdrop that you can see when I filmed here helps give the audience the sort of place that the song is singing about and how its not being filmed in a particularly posh or upper class estate and it helps the audience understand what is being said more, who the video is for and how I want the audience to view it.
Location 3 - (Bowl)
The next location is at a skate-park called 'The Bowl' and the reason I have chosen this place is so that once again, the audience are able to understand who the video is for and who it is being directed at, as well as once again creating a sort of urban feel which shows once again which class it is for as well as what age group and potentially what gender.
Location 4 - (Curb)
The last place I have chosen is a place that I think is perfect for the song as it fits the majority of the song so well and that is just being sat on the curb in an area that it similar to the others but due to it being so literal to the lyrics it helps the audience understand what is being said and therefore helps them by giving them a chance to think why I am singing this and how I am feeling which will also come through in my emotion when singing. Similar to the others though I have chosen this again to fit the demographic.
The target audience to my music video is going to be very similar to that of the target audience to other rap/alternative hip hop music which will be mostly boys of around the age 13 -25. The reason I am going to aim it a this age group is because they are the age group that will most likely understand the music and already are the highest age group to listen to this genre of music so it will make it much easier and it will mean that I just have to follow conventions that the other music videos are already using.
I don't think that I will use all of the conventions because this may end up making my age group be slightly higher for example if I use the sexualistaion of women, it would end up being seen as for an older audience ruling out the 13 - 18 year old age gap despite them still most likely watching it but it may cause problem with parents not wanting their kids to see these sorts of things. Another reason I will not be using this is because due to the task at hand this would be inappropriate.
This age and gender audience would be the type who are beginning to watch more mature things on TV and online but they would still watch things that make them laugh as they still don't want to take things too seriously. This is why for my video I am going to make sure that due to the mood of the song not being too upbeat, I will try and make sure that the video has gone some not too serious moment that despite not being funny will be able to make the audience understand that it is being aimed at them and it doesn't make them too sad or down.
From this I have learnt that my target audience are going to be more into my video if I include a lot of lip syncing shots and include a younger main role along with a lot of shots of the streets, I will be able to engage my audience more. This will hopefully draw in my target audience and make them want to stay and watch my entire video but it may also engage more viewers from a similar yet different audience, widening my audience and the views.
In this post I will be talking about what intertextuality is, how its used and why people use it and why they don't. To start with I will explain what it is. Intertextuality is when one piece of text or a video or song for example is created by using either parts or whole bits of another piece. This could be anything from something small like a quote or something big like an entire picture or maybe a scene just using different characters. An example of this is one that the Simpsons did where they copied the picture for the cover of the nirvana cover to a CD just using Bart instead of the baby. Below is the picture as previously stated.
Intertextuality can be seen in many different places, as shown above it can be used from TV related things and in TV shows such as the Simpsons but it can also be used in other things such as music and music videos. An example of this was Madonna's song 'Material girl' was very similar visual wise as a 1953 film called 'Gentlemen prefer blonde.' This is quite obviously shown by by what she is wearing and the way in which she is acting and all the people around her. It is very similar to the movie as you can see below.
The main advantages to using intertextuality are:
The chance of adding a deeper meaning
Show off whether artist is being comedic or serious
If understood by an audience they may enjoy it more and feel nostalgic
The main disadvantages to using intertextuality are:
If the audience do not realise what the person is doing it can be strange and sometimes less enjoyable for the viewer
May be seen as an unoriginal idea or just a rip off
If it is done poorly then it could harm the person doing its carrer and the person who it is meant to be representing.
After reviewing the lyrics to my song and looking around online for things that I could include into my video, poster or digipak, I have decided that I am not going to include any intertextuality or atleast not any purposeful as I feel that the song I am doing is very unique and original and that if there was a way to include something then it may be a good idea but as there is nothing I can find, I do not want to force something in that wont seem right and potentially make my work look worse.
The first Record label I am going to talk about is the one that has got Watsky signed to it which is Steel wool media. They are a very small and independent record company but due to their CEO being in the music industry for 30 years before starting up the company, they have had a good start and lots of talent and ideas to use to make amazing video's and music. It was founded by Kevin Morrow in October 2012 which means that right now it is still quite new. They have currently got a total of 17 artists of which Watsky is their biggest with an album that made it to #1 on the iTunes charts of the albums for the hip hop/rap genre, out selling Macklemores album 'The heist' and ranking #9 on iTunes best selling albums of the month.
They rely a lot on social media because this is a free and easy way to get information about to fans whether it is through the artists social media itself or whether it is through their own but either way it is a free way to get out vital information like tour dates, album releases and more. They have got their own website as well which has even more information about them and a way of contacting them but they do not usually put out a lot of information on here as it would be harder to update and if they did this then people would have to go to their website every time they wanted an update as wear with twitter and Facebook people are usually on these everyday anyway.Bellow is a link to their own website and their Facebook page: http://www.steelwoolentertainment.com/artists https://www.facebook.com/SteelWoolEntertainment/info/?tab=page_info
As you can see the previously stated record label is not a very famous one and does not have many signed artists and those that are signed are not overly popular and are probably unknown to a lot of people. This is because they do not have a lot of money Compared to the bigger companies like Universal, Sony and EMI. These 3 companies are the biggest companies in the music industry and due to this they have the most money and therefore the best forms of advertising there videos. The main way of advertising for two of these companies (Sony and Universal) is through vevo. This is because they have a joint ownership over this company and therefore advertise each others video's on each others videos as an advert at the start normally, You will be able to see this if you go to the Vevo youtube channel as almost every video will start with an advert for another music video on there channel and this may be for their own company or for the other but this shows that together, they have monopolised on the music video and generally on the music industry as even though the main place they advertise is on their own stuff as it is then free or at least cheaper, they also have enough money to advertise on other video's that will be be aimed at the same target audience as that of the video they are receiving an advert for.
As we weren't able to get permission for our formerly chosen song we had to adapt our ideas to allow for our new song of choice 'Watsky- Cardboard Castles'.
For this post I am going to be answering three questions about the music industry and I will be making sure to show evidence of my research and making sure it is answered in the best possible quality.
Who are the main television companies that show music video's?
There are many channels which still show music videos on them everyday and some of them are dedicated to this very well due to the fact that this is all they do. An example of these websites are Starz TV, Bliss and Kerrang. These channels still show lots of music videos and are rarely interrupted by other shows. Below is a picture of the listings for some of these channels.
This is not always a good thing though as this can sometimes make them unpopular as it will mean they play a lot of the same songs over again and due to the rise in songs being uploaded to YouTube and almost everyone having some way of accessing this, they are becoming less and less popular. There are also music channels such as MTV which still show off a lot of music but they seems to have noticed that television is not as popular for music any more so they have started playing TV shows instead of music and this has been slowly increasing with other channels as well.
Where can you find music video's?
Music video's can be found in two main places but one is more easy to access what you are looking for than the other. The first which can be difficult to find the exact videos you are looking for is on a TV channel, most likely on what of the channels listed above. The reason that it can be harder to find what you are looking for is because as a viewer you are not in control of what is being played. This can cause people to leave the channel quickly if they hear a song they do not like or possibly even if it is one that they do not know. Due to this, there is currently less people watching music video's this way.
The second place that you can go to watch music video's is online, the most popular place of which to find a music video is on YouTube. This is due to it having almost all video's that have been made as they have been uploaded, whether it was by the artist themselves or by a fan who has their music and has uploaded it for them. There is a specific channel that is dedicated to big artists as it has almost all of their music on and this is the Vevo channel. Vevo was a big television channel but has stopped broadcasting as much about music on tv and has decided to make their own website and youtube channel as they have found that this seems to get them more views and therefore more money.
What is the purpose of music video's (Business and entertainment)
A music video's purpose is to entertain the viewer whilst they are listening to the song. This is used to help entice the audience to keep watching as not only do they get to listen to the song, they also get to watch a video. It can also be used to help portray the meaning of the song and help the audience understand the meaning of the video. It can also be used as a way to make sure that the audience remembers the song as they will then link it or relate it to the video and if they then see something that reminds them of this then they will think of the song and hopefully want to listen to it or at least talk about it.
They can also be used to help promote the artists for more than just being a good singer or band. It can also help people see other talents that they have for example, dancing and acting. This could then spark them to get jobs for other things such as tv or movies.
The last reason is quite an obvious one which is to help promote the artist and therefore sell their CD's to create more money for them and their record label. As i have said before, music video's can be used to make people remember the song if they see something in real life that was in the video then they will remember the song and therefore talk about it and possibly, if they are able to at the time, go out and buy the album.
I have created a survey on https://www.quicksurveys.com/ for my music video asking people what genres of music they like to listen to and what their favourite music video they have ver watched is. I have done this so I know that if someone who is interested in the gene of music for which I am making a music video they can help me understand what it is about the music video's in that genre that they like and I could potentially include a few of these techniques.
Another question I asked was about me explaining some of the key techniques I am going to use when creating my video and I have asked for feedback as to what people think of this. So far I have mostly had positive reviews saying it was good and I am also glad to say that i have had some reviews which have criticised what i have said but i do not mind this as it has helped me understand what they then really want to see and therefore have been able to tailor my video plan better and hopefully for the target audience I am still aiming it at.
I am still going to continue checking the feedback for my survey as i know this will help me even when producing my video as it will help me make sure I am always doing the right thing and if there is something that i have added that a majority of people do not agree with then i will make sure to take this out and hopefully replace it with another idea or maybe one that has been put forward to help. Here is a link to my survey: https://www.quicksurveys.com/s/Ai3t6R7
In rap music video's there are quite a lot of distinctive conventions that are used in the more popular rap videos and this is shown by how much these sorts of things and shots are used. As the song we have chosen to do is a cross between rap and alternative hip hop it does not use these conventions for the same reason and sometimes at all from other songs with the same genre as the song we have chosen that we have seen.
The general conventions in music videos which are the same genre cross over as the one we are doing tend to use a lot of close up shots, some sort of narrative story, lots of body language and outdoors settings.
The use of a lot of close ups is due to how the artist wants to get their emotions across but they may not feel that just the lyrics to the song are enough or they may be worried that a line may be misunderstood when decoded by the reader but when you see the emotions of the artist, it will help you understand what they mean by what is being sung and it will help you feel how they are feeling or were when they wrote it.
A lot of songs of this genre tend to tell a story in the song and will have snippets of this in the video but they will not end up telling the full story or they may not necessarily end with a happy ending but with the artist being quite sad and down. This once again helps show emotion and it makes us think about the artist and what they are going through and how they are now and how they were when they wrote it. Usually the story is about a relationship that may have not gone well or how they wanted and this is usually shown by them being close at the start of the video but as the video goes on they are separated and sometimes the person who was the partner may have found someone else.
As previously stated, artists who write songs of these genres like to try and get their emotions across and when they don't feel it is enough to just use the lyrics another way that they may try and create emotion in the audience is by using body language or hand gestures. This helps the viewer as they may see something that they recognise from their lives and therefore it will feel more real and they feel a stronger connection between themselves and the artist. It also helps stop the song from being misinterpreted and heard in the wrong mind set which can happen a lot with rap songs due to the reputation that they have.
The last main convention that is used in almost all rap/alternative hip hop music videos is some sort of outdoor setting at some point. I think that the reason for this is due to its link with rap music and rap music being known to have a lot of shots on the street. This is where this comparison end due to there no being any gangs involved or much else of what would be in your stereotypical rap video but I feel that this is used to build a link t show that some rappers, like Watsky, who have also added alternative hip hop to their genres, can show that they are still true to their roots and still have some of that rap genre in them.
The first music video I have chosen to analyse is Watsky's song, Woah woah woah. I have chosen this song as the artist is very similar to that of the I have chosen to do for my main product and the song is of the same genre which is Rap/Alternative Hip Hop. Watsky himself is the main actor in this video which is therefore the use of star imagery. The video is split into two parts which demonstrate the two main conventions of rap videos going wrong. These two conventions are A gang on A street causing havoc and property damage and then the sexualisation of women. These go wrong in both parts though as in the first the he sets himself on fire while trying to set a Lamborghini on fire and in the second he is try to have sex with a woman who is not wearing much through the scene and this goes wrong when part of the room catches fire due to the candles in there. In the first scene, watsky and his 'crew' are dressed wearing what looks like slightly higher class than stereotypical street wear. This is because he is wearing a proper shirt and he is wearing jeans over joggers. This therefore shows that this is not his usually 'Habitat' so to say and is probably why the scene ends badly for him. In the second scene he is not wearing as much as he is getting intimate with a women. One again the scene ends badly for him with the room catching fire which shows that this is also something he is not comfortable with.
In total in the video there are the same amount of men as there are women but one of the women are very sexualised in the way that she is acting and from what she is wearing. This is not shown as much with from the men or watsky but they have tried to add add this slightly but not as much. The body language that is shown from the second scene is that of a very sexual nature and that the scene is going to be very intimate. The first scene however portrays body language of a menacing feel from the way that they are acting by throwing gasoline over a Lamborghini.
Through the entire video, Watsky (The star), has power over most of the other but every time this is shown he then loses it by being brought down by a flame that ruins something in someway. In the first scene the flame stops him from burning the car by burning himself, The second there is a fire which ruins the mood of scene which stops what was happening or going to happen.
After looking at the lyrics of the website Rap genius, it says that the meaning of the song is 'A song that Watsky described as “verbal flexing” to prove that he is a real lyricist to those who doubt him. He always stays true to his roots bringing in some fast rap and quirky lines.
Hard hitting and powerful; A new Watsky classic.' I think that the message of the song that watsky is trying to get across is that he can still do music like he used to and he is the same person despite being more famous now but as a viewer i personally feel like it is about him showing off how strong he is as a person and trying to show how he can make it through anything no matter what the challenge. I fell like he does this more so through the verses though than through the chorus.
The only products that are really advertised in this video are a Lamborghini and watsky himself. Personally i do not understand the use of showing off a Lamborghini as a product trying to advertise it as by the seems of it, most of Watskys audience would be that of whom have not got much money so i feel that it is more of just something to show off. Watsky himself is being advertised here because, like most of his other videos as well, He is the star of the video and he always puts as much effort as he can in his videos to try and people to watch more and listen to more of his music. There are no actual brand names shown and i cannot find, apart from the previously stated Lamborghini, any brands that would stand out to be iconic.
In the first scene there is a slight narrative story arc to it and this is shown from how things progress from the start to the end. Also the camera angles and shots show this by portraying that the first person, who we see who is only seen for a around 30 seconds, has a lot of power and this is due to the way that the camera is mostly using low shots to look up at him making him look bigger than he really is. However as his scene comes to an end the camera starts to use shots of the same height or higher shots showing that he is starting to be put down or looked down upon.
This is quite similar as with Watsky, the camera is almost always looking up at him and i think once again this is to give him power and make him seem bigger and tougher than he really is. As we can see, he is seen to be the head of the group that is causing what is happening and using low angle shots makes him seem tougher than he really is which once agin. As we see in the video, after setting himself on fire he is not really as strong and tough as he is made out to be.
I really like the editing i this video as they have used a technique i have not seen many other music videos use which is where the video keeps jumping back but the lip synching still continues as per normal. After looking up how they have done it, It was from filming the video normally then they lip synched the video again but with Watsky keeping his head in what is basically a clamp so that there is no movement of his head. They then cut his lips out and superimpose it on top but there had to do this frame by frame to get it exact and to look so natural.
In this
essay I am going to be evaluating how I feel my 30 second music video went. I
will be explaining what I think went well and what didn't and why I think this.
I will also be suggesting improvements I may have made if I were to do one
again or had more time to improve.
The first
thing I am going to talk about is the research. I feel that the research for my
music video went quite well and if I were to rate how I think it went out of 10
I would give it a 7 or an 8. I would say this because I made sure to research to
music genre I liked and then tried to find an artist I liked and would enjoy
doing a 30 second video for. I also made
sure to find a back up in case I did not think that it would turn out as well
as I would have hoped but it did not come to that but I am still glad I had a
back up just in case. I also researched the genre finding out what sort of
things are generally include in this genre of music videos and I tried to include
as much of this as I could.
The
improvement I would make to this If I were to do it again is try and do a
slight bit less research as I feel I looked at this genre too much but I would
also make sure to write everything I find out down as I did not write down as
much as I found out therefore making it look like I did not do as much research
as I had actually done. Also the reason I would try and spend less time on the research
is because due to this taking longer than expecting I had to push back when I was
planning on doing the planning and the actual producing of the video but I still
got all of it filmed on time and to what I feel was a high standard so I am
happy with that.
The next
thing I am going to evaluate is the planning and I think that this went well in
some aspects but not so well in others. The reason for this is because I think
that I managed to plan out my video and what I was going to do but I did not
write much of this down. I still feel that I managed to make a good video due
to this fact but I feel it may have been better and I may have been able to
produce it faster had I written everything I wanted down and made sure that I knew
what I was doing.
Due to that,
if I were to make any improvement on the planning stage of my 30 second music
video it would be to write any ideas I have and anything I know I am going to
use down so that I am able to include every shot and every idea I thought of
into my video and also be able to show proof of what I have done and make sure
that all of the timings are okay and I don't just have to estimate them like I had
to with one or two shots but luckily I knew the timings for the rest.
Lastly is the
production of my 30 second music video and I feel that this was the part that
went the best. I think this because I feel that my video came out just as good,
if not better, than I expected it to. This is due to the fact that I have
included all the shots I wanted in my video and I feel the editing is all in
time and works well but the thing I am most impressed with myself for is that I
feel I managed to sync the music with the lip syncing which can be difficult so
I am glad that I managed that.
Personally I
do not think that there are any improvement I would make to the actual
production of my video but I do think that if I had made the improvement to the
earlier things then I would have had more time for the actual video and therefore
been able to make it better and possibly think of others things to include but
even now I cannot think of any improvements to my video which I am very happy
about as it feels like a success
The video i have decided to review is sam smith - stay with me. I have chosen this because it is the same genre of music video as the 30 second video i will create and i feel that the artist is also quite similar to the artist i have chosen.
The first thing i am going to talk about is camera shots. The camera shots in this video is set more so to one specific thing and that is close ups of the singer. I think that the reason this music video has used this as its primary shot is to get the emotion of the singer across better as he is showing a lot of emotion on his face and therefore allowing the audience to see this and relate with him.
The next thing is editing. The main editing techniques used in this video was just simple cuts and the occasional fade from shot to shot and i think this is because it wasnt trying to be fancy or overly happy like the song is trying to portray it as so i think that the editing was done well due to the fact that it relates the music video to the song well.
In general the mise-en-scene was quite dull and grey, I think that the reason for this was because the video was quite sad and dull and therefore the video was managing to link with the song very well and help the audience understand the song a bit better.
In this video, the artist is represented to be a quite sad and depressed character at the time but it is also shown that he isnt always like this and it is just a mood or a phase in his life. This is shown through what he is saying in the song but it is demonstrated via what can be seen in the video and how he is acting.
I think that the audience will feel quite moved and emotional towards sam smith with this song as he is truly showing his emotions in the song and the video is allowing him to show this and therefore it creates a connection with the audience allowing them to understand how he feels and maybe feel the same way too.
An audience might watch this video to understand the true meaning of this song and undertsnad what is meant behind the lyrics. It could also be watched to help people who enjoy the song and can feel an emotional connection with it feel even closer by learning even more about the song and how what is being sung is expressed in a visual way via sam smith.
I think that Goodwins theory can be applied to this video as due to the genre it was meaning to be a video expressing the emotion of the star and he did this by being in the video and promoting himself but also interacting with the audience and expressing his emotion to them.
Andrew Goodwin's theory is that all music genres tend to follow certain styles when it comes to creating music videos. These usually are true and do tend to follow a pattern from video to video but some follow it more than other and some just don't follow it.
The first genre of music i am going to talk about this for is Rap. When people think of rap music videos they usually think of street video where there is the main artist rapping usually surrounded by their 'crew' who will be cheering them on. An example of this is some of Eminem's songs as he tend to use a lot of shots of streets and these sort of imaginary and a few of his videos have him rapping whilst surrounded by what looks like his 'crew'. An example of a rap artist who does not follow this is Watsky. This may be due to him not being a hardcore rapper as he does mix his rap with more upbeat pop sounding songs but he got his fame from rap and uses it in most of his songs yet he doesn't follow this stereotypical rapper music video style. Most of Watskys videos are bizarre and would be concept or narrative videos opposed to a performance.
Another genre of music that tends to follow a performance style of music video would be heavy metal. The reason for this is usually to show off the what they are like live and hopefully get the audience to feel the video is more genuine. They usually show a lot of shots of the audience and i think this may be to help the audience understand who they are trying to aim their music at as sometimes it may not be suitable for all viewer.
In summary i think most musicians do tend to follow the stereotypical music video as said by Goodwin but there are sometimes exceptions to the rule such as watsky with rap. The reason i think that most musicians tend to follow the stereotypical videos is because they most likely listen to music from the same genre so take ideas from fellow music videos therefore there will be a lot of similar music videos in the same music genre.
A narrative music video is a music video that generally tells a short story, The video sometimes follows that of the song but sometimes it can be a story that is not related very much but may have some similar parts or that of a similar meaning. An example of this is Lalala by Naughty boy and Sam Smith as the song is different to the music video but the song is based off of the same thing as what the video is based on.
The next video I have chosen to talk about is Ugly faces by Watsky and the reason for this is because it is slightly a performance video but it is mostly a story but the main reason is because instead of just using actors as in the previous video, this on has the main character being the singer himself proving that a narrative music video doesn't just have to be actors and it also proves that you don't always need high budget (like most) to produce a narrative music video like most.
A performance music video is generally a music video that is performed on a stage and sometimes in front of an audience. It is usually of the band performing the song and dancing to it. An example of this is Shia Lebouf by Rob cantor which was performed on a theatre stage.
Another situation that is generally for performance videos is the use of clips from real life ad from concerts where the song has been performed. This isnt normally what the entire video consists of as this would be quite difficult to use as a music video but it sometimes does happen. Most videos that do this though tend to use clips or transition into the live performance from a generic music video scene. An example of this is Jan Egeland by Ylvis
The reason I have chosen to use such simple stuff is because I feel that this makes it seem like the most realistic and common things that will be used in real life and as I want my video to be relate able and easy for people to have feeling of similar emotion being shown and represented, even through the props. Another reason however is due to the ease of how common all of these materials are and if I wanted anything extravagant I may end up paying a fair amount of 
